OS X Mavericks Hits 5.5 Percent Install Base in 24 Hours

Apple surprised the tech industry when it announced that its new operating system, OS X Mavericks, would launch for free for machines dating all the way back to 2007. The public seems to have largely jumped on board. Chitika said Thursday that it estimates, within about 24 hours, that 5.5 percent of all Mac OS X traffic coming through its ad network was from machines already running OS X Mavericks.

5.5 percent of all machines is actually a pretty significant figure. By comparison, the ad network found that OS X Mountain Lion achieved the same kind of adoption rates after four days. Apple charged $19.99 for the upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion last year, however, which explains why it took consumers longer to adopt that iteration.

“Those in the tech industry saw Mavericks’ pricing as a means for Apple to use its OS as more of a service-delivery mechanism rather than a product in itself, very similar to the company’s strategy with iOS for mobile devices,” Chitika explained. It’s true — by providing a free download, Apple can get its latest products and services in the hands of a larger group of consumers faster. Microsoft ought to try the same thing.